M1 Sick Day
by miss37
Summary: Republishing old story. Mac has to take a sick day which turns into an almost disaster, and sends the team on a hunt for a pharmacy thief with no record.
1. Chapter 1

**Sick Day**

Mac Taylor woke up with a sneeze. He had developed a cold the day before and had taken this day off at the unctioning of Jo Danville. She would not have it any other way. He felt miserable this morning, even worse than he felt the day before. He would have to make a trip to the pharmacy to get something for this cold. He did not want to go to the doctor. He would just get some cold medicine and see how that worked and some aspirin. He had discovered last night that he had no aspirin left. He hardly ever bought any medicines because he was hardly ever at home.

Mac finally got out of bed at around 8. The pharmacy did not open until 9 anyway. He went into the bathroom. He looked even worse than he had thought as he looked in the mirror. He thought a man's beard must grow faster when he is sick. He shaved which was not a pleasant experience with a cold either. Then he got a hot shower and got dressed in a blue shirt and blue jeans. He did not even poke his shirt in. He did not feel like it. He went to the kitchen and drank some water. He did not even feel like eating but he supposed he would get something on the way to the pharmacy anyway.

Mac went down to the parking garage where his Avalanche was parked. He had finally bought his own so he would have something to drive on the occasion that he ever took a day off. He did not particularly like driving in New York, but he would rather risk it than to get in a cab with those crazy drivers. He supposed one developed driving skills to get through this traffic after they had been driving as long as he had been. He made it down to the coffee shop where he usually ate breakfast and went inside.

It was a cool morning outside and Mac was glad it was warm in the café. He sat at a table today so that he could lean back. He closed his eyes and sighed a moment. The waitress came and took his order and he sat and waited. He looked out the window at the busy streets. Sometimes he thought he wanted to take a long vacation and see something besides the city. Maybe he would do that this summer. It had been a very long time since he took a vacation. Actually, he had not taken a vacation since that time he went to London. Mac thought he was just a little depressed. He did not feel like taking a vacation because he had no one to spend it with and he did not see it as fun. He had to change that and get out more even if he did not have anyone to spend it with. He could go on a cruise or something and meet people there.

After he ate, Mac went on to the pharmacy. He could see that it was already open because he could see someone inside. He sneezed as he got out of the truck. He shoved the door closed and went into the pharmacy. He was shocked at what he saw when he walked in. The pharmacist was lying in the floor in a pool of blood and there was a weapon lying beside him. There was a young girl beside him. She looked up at Mac with fear in her eyes. "I found him like this," she said. "There must be someone else in the store."

Mac did not have his weapon with him. He put his finger to his lips for the girl to stay quiet. "I'm Detective Taylor." He picked up the weapon that was lying beside the victim and checked it for ammunition. It had plenty. He checked for a pulse on the victim, but there was not one. He looked at the girl. "Call nine-one-one," he said. "Tell them a man's been shot."

The girl nodded. Mac started down the aisle with the weapon ready as he stepped around the body of the victim. Suddenly, Mac heard a weapon fire and he felt a searing pain in his back as he collapsed to the floor. He looked up to see the girl with a weapon as the look on her face had changed from fear to hate. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and Mac watched as she approached him. He felt like his breath was not reaching his lungs. The girl came over to him and took the weapon from his hand. "You shouldn't be so trusting," she said in his ear.

Mac felt the barrel of the weapon in his back and he thought she would shoot him again. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you," the girl said.

She stood up and Mac thought she would leave but then he heard the gun and felt another pain in his back. He thought he would die but he did not want to die here. He heard the girl lock the front door and then she went into the back of the pharmacy. He could hear glass breaking and other sounds. He knew she must be stealing drugs and money too, but he could not stop her. He was concentrating on keeping his breathing going. Soon, he heard the girl going out the back door of the pharmacy. He knew he had to do something or he would die here and she would get away with whatever she stole.

Mac lifted his head which seemed to take tremendous effort. He could feel where the bullets had gone inside him. He looked toward the back of the pharmacy and then toward the front. He did not think he would be able to get the door open if he went up there but he might be able to get to the phone at the register if he got up there. He could not get up to his hands and knees to crawl so he had to just drag himself leaving a trail of blood as he went. He could feel blood on his back and running down his side as he dragged himself along. He did not have much time.

Mac finally made it to the front register but there was a problem…the register was surrounded by a partition and it had a door that had to be opened. Mac looked up at the handle. He felt sick and like he would pass out any moment. He sought for his inner strength and reached for the door handle with a trembling hand, hoping that the door was not locked. It was one of those silver handles. Mac was glad it was not a knob or he thought he would not be able to turn it. He finally got his fingers on the handle and pulled it down and the door opened toward the inside of the partition so Mac fell forward as the door opened. He lay there a moment trying to get the strength he knew he would need to get that phone. He had to get it before he passed out or he would die here. He began to pull himself into the booth and somehow got onto his knees as he held onto the door. He looked for the phone which he discovered was hanging on the side of the partition. He could feel blood running down his back now that he was upright. He held to the door with his left hand and reached for the phone with his right hand. He finally got it and dialed Don Flack's number. It seemed to be the only number he could remember.

Don was sitting at his desk when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and realized it was the pharmacy. He was puzzled as to why he would be getting a call from them. "Don Flack," he answered. At first he did not hear anything but then he thought he heard someone breathing. "Hello?"

"Don," Mac said when he finally got enough breath. "Help me."

Don stood up. "Where are you?" he asked but he thought he heard the phone hit the floor. "Mac!" Don hung up the phone and headed out to his car as he called in where he was going. He knew Mac must be at that pharmacy and something must have happened.

Don arrived at the pharmacy and noticed that the "closed" sign was on the door. He tried the door and it was locked. He peered inside and saw the feet of the pharmacist who was still lying in the floor. He went to his car and got a night stick from the truck. He broke out the glass of the door and went inside as he drew his weapon. He walked over to the pharmacist whom he realized was dead but he noticed the smeared blood trail that was an indicator that someone had been crawling down this aisle…and they were bleeding. He looked down the aisle and saw a pool of blood there and then realized the smear was heading in the direction toward him.

Don called in the emergency and then headed in the direction of the smear as he kept his weapon ready. He hoped he did not find Mac dead. He knew Mac must have made it to a phone. As he followed the blood trail, he finally got up to the register booth and saw Mac's feet as he was not completely into the booth and Don also saw blood on the floor and dripping from the booth. "Mac!" Don exclaimed. He put his weapon away and got over to Mac who was completely unconscious now. Don was horrified. "Mac!" He felt for a pulse and found a weak one. "Mac, you hang in there!" He thought Mac had collapsed after he called him. He pulled him up and held his head up off the floor. "Mac, don't you die!" He held up his hand which was covered with blood from Mac's back. He realized Mac had been shot in the back. Then he heard sirens. "They're coming, Mac, just hold on!"

Soon, the emergency teams arrived and Mac was taken to an ambulance. Just then, Jo and Danny were arriving. "What's going on?" Jo asked as she saw Mac being put into the ambulance.

"I don't know what happened," Don replied. "All I know is, Mac called me and when I got here, I found the pharmacist dead and I found Mac in the booth back there where he called. I don't know if this was a robbery or what? Mac was shot in the back."

Jo and Danny were shocked at this turn of events. "Is he going to be okay?" Danny asked.

"I don't know," Don said helplessly. "He lost a lot of blood."

Danny looked at Jo as though he needed direction on what to do next. Jo knew she was in charge here since Mac was out. "We have to process this crime scene so we can figure out what happened here," Jo said.

Don looked toward the ambulance where Mac had been loaded now and then back at Jo. He looked at his hands that had Mac's blood on them and his clothes too. "I want to ride with him," he said.

"You have to tell us what happened first," Jo said.

They went into the pharmacy. Don pointed. "When I got here, I found the pharmacist lying here dead and that trail of blood, which is Mac's. He had crawled from down there to the booth over there to get to the phone. The booth is…" Don sighed. "His blood is everywhere." He swallowed hard. "I don't know who shot him or the pharmacist and I don't know whether it was a robbery or what. I was busy with Mac until the ambulance got here."

Jo and Danny stared at the scene with a cold feeling inside as they looked at the smeared trail of blood on the floor that ran almost the whole length of the aisle. "My Lord," Jo said as she saw how much blood there was. She looked out the door as the ambulance was pulling away with Mac. She remembered when she first met Mac. It was quite a meeting, standing over a dead body and Mac was not at all happy about a victim being found in his lab. He was always there to back up his team and he was there when they had problems as well. "We have to find out who did this and why."

Danny nodded. Jo moved over to the victim who was still lying in the floor. Danny took pictures of the victim and they began processing the scene. Danny took pictures of the blood pool where Mac and been lying and the trail where he had dragged himself to the register booth. He took pictures of the booth and then headed to the back of the store. When he got to the pharmacy area where the prescription drugs were kept, it was clear that there had been a robbery. The thief had been messy, leaving several pills strewn in the floor as well as containers. The cash register had been forced open and cleaned out as well. Danny took pictures of all that and then began dusting for prints. He found a few prints on the register as well as tool marks where it had been forced open. There were also prints on the containers that had been emptied of their medications. Danny had noticed that the pharmacist had latex gloves on so if everyone who worked in the pharmacy wore gloves, the fingerprints on the register and on the containers would most likely belong to the thief. However, they would have to get the prints of everyone who worked in the pharmacy to rule them out.

Danny looked at the scene and sighed. He wondered how this thief got behind Mac and shot him like that. He remembered the time he, Don and Mac were investigating the murder of the Indian Chief and they went into the building where the murderer was running an illegal gambling establishment online and when he realized they were inside, he turned off all the lights. Mac had used infrared technology on his phone to locate the perp and gave him a punch in the nose when he was not expecting it. He had to wonder how this thief had gained enough trust from Mac to get behind him. He knew Mac had been sick the day before. Maybe he was not feeling well and was just not as alert as he usually was. Danny looked around the room he was in again. They would find out who did this.

Jo dusted the back door of the pharmacy where they thought the thief must have gone out. There were prints there, but there were several so she thought there might be more than one set. Danny was still working on the pharmacy area when Jo walked in there. "Was this all because of a junkie wanting drugs?" she asked.

Danny stopped what he was doing and looked around him. "What people will do for a fix," he said. "They'll kill their own mother."

"So killing the pharmacist and…wounding Mac would be nothing to them."

Danny looked at Jo. "Mac saw the killer," he said.

Don Flack was arriving at the hospital. He finally found out where Mac was, but he could not go in because Mac had been taken to surgery. Don paced around in the hall a few minutes and then he went into the waiting room. He had washed Mac's blood off his hands, but he had not changed clothes. He wondered what the motive for this had been. He knew how desperate people were, who were addicted to drugs. They would do anything to get those drugs. He just hoped Mac did not have to pay the price for someone's addiction.

Jo went back to the back door and opened it to inspect the door jamb. She noticed a green fiber stuck in the mechanics of the door. She gathered the fiber and secured it into evidence. She studied the rest of the doorway and found glass on the threshold which could have come from the glass in the pharmacy. If it was, that meant that the thief could have glass stuck in the bottom of their shoes. She went on out the door and dusted the outside handle. There were not many prints there. She went on out into the alley and looked both ways. There was no way of knowing which way the thief could have gone. She opened the garbage bin outside and looked in. There was only one bag of garbage in the bin, so she looked down into the bottom of the bin where she saw a green hooded sweatshirt. The thief could have thrown that in there. Jo got a stepladder and got the sweatshirt out of the bin. When she lifted it up, a weapon fell from it. She almost gasped. Did the killer actually throw the weapon away? She got the weapon and put it in an evidence bag. She made sure there was nothing else in the dumpster and went back inside.

"Danny," Jo said as she held up the bag with the weapon in it.

"The killer tossed the weapon?" Danny asked.

"Looks like it."

Danny looked around the mess in the pharmacy. "Whoever did this did not care about what a mess they made," he said.

"Maybe we can get some prints from this weapon."

"There were prints in here. I'm thinking this killer doesn't have a record, so they don't care about their prints being found."

"I checked the surveillance tapes, but they were gone. Whoever did this took those tapes."

"You're kidding."

"Not at all. We have a smart thief here and one with no record."

Danny considered that. "How could someone who has never committed a crime do something like this and make no mistakes? Shoot two people in cold blood and not care?"

"Just because they have no record doesn't mean they have not committed a crime before. It just means they haven't been caught."

"This is bold though. They walk in here, shoot the pharmacist, somehow get behind Mac and shoot him in the back. What was Mac doing here?"

Jo sighed. "He was coming down with a cold yesterday and he was out today. He may have been here to get some cold medicine or something and he walked in on this."

"Okay, so how does the thief get behind him then?"

"Maybe they were hidden and when he…if he found the body, why would he be coming this way? He was further down the aisle than the body."

"He must have been doing a hot search," Danny said. "He must have thought the perp was still in the building."

Jo looked at Danny. "But they were behind him?"

"It's a confusing one. Only Mac can tell us what happened."

"Mac was shot in the back, so this was totally unexpected," Jo said.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "He obviously thought the perp was back here."

"Maybe he heard all this commotion going on and he didn't realize there was another perp in the store."

"Could be."

"Something seems odd though. If someone stepped out behind him, his instincts would have whirled him around. He was shot straight in the back, but the pharmacist was shot in the chest."

"Yeah, and he was in the front of the store rather than back here."

"The store was just opening. Maybe there was no one here yet but the pharmacist."

"Too many questions for this detective mind," Danny said.

"This case has enough questions to keep us up forever," Jo declared.

Don was pacing in the hallway of the hospital again. He was nervous. He had seen how much blood Mac had lost. It was even dripping off the step of the register booth. Just as Don thought he could not take any more tension, Sheldon walked in. "How is he?" Sheldon asked.

"I don't know," Don answered. "He's in there." He gestured toward the double doors that led to surgery.

"How did this happen?"

"I don't know that either. All I know is that Mac called me from the pharmacy, and he collapsed." Don rubbed his hair back. "He could have died right there. He was bleeding bad."

Sheldon folded his arms. "Now all we can do is wait."

They sat down in chairs that were there in the hall. "I hate this," Don said. "Mac is supposed to be superman. He doesn't get shot like this. How did this happen? He was shot in the back, Sheldon."

"In the back?" Sheldon asked with a confused look.

"Yeah. I can't figure that out."

"Something odd must have happened in this."

"He had dragged himself all the way to that booth to get the phone. He obviously didn't have his cell with him."

"Or the perp stole it."

Don thought about that. "If they stole it, it can be traced maybe," he said. He called Adam and told him as much.

Sheldon was trying to figure out how Mac could have been shot in the back. It was not like him to turn his back on a perpetrator. "How would they get behind him and shoot him like that?" he wondered out loud.

Don considered that. "People who are shot in the back are usually shot by someone they trust," he said. He looked at Sheldon. "Who could have been there that Mac would have trusted?"

"Good question," Sheldon said.

Don thought a moment. "Mac's been around a long time," he said. "He's wise."

"Too wise for something like this to happen."

"He's figured out things that were confusing to me."

"Like the three-three-three stalker. That guy was so elusive, leaving these little subtle clues."

"And the whole time, the guy wanted Mac to find him so he could make him pay for letting his brother die."

"Mac even let me stay in his apartment when my luck was down," Sheldon said. "He had no qualms about it. Didn't even ask me for any rent."

"He kept me out of trouble when I was down about losing Jess too," Don said. "He could have fired me. I was drunk, missed my shift, and we had that compass killer going around murdering people."

"He always stands up for his team but he's a boss too."

They sat there for another hour before the doctor came from surgery. Don and Sheldon stood up. "How is he?" Don asked.

"Lucky," the doctor said. "If that bullet had gone in another inch to the left, he would have been dead before he hit the floor. He had a lot of hemorrhaging and it was hard to get it all stopped. We gave him four pints of blood and he's being watched closely."

Don and Sheldon watched the doctor walk away. "What does that mean?" Don asked.

"It means he is not out of the woods yet," Sheldon replied. "If he starts hemorrhaging again, he could die fast."

"I want to find who did this."

"Go and work on the case. I'll stay here."

Don nodded. He stared toward the doors where Mac was and wished he could see him before he left but time was critical with a case. "Keep us informed," he said and turned. He left the hospital with a determination to make someone pay for this.


	2. Chapter 2

When Danny and Jo were finished at the crime scene, they took the evidence back to the lab. Don came in after that. He had finally gone home and changed into a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt which helped his eyes to show the sharpness of his determination. "So, have we got anything yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," Jo answered. "We're waiting for the evidence to be processed. How is Mac?"

"Not good. He's being _watched closely_ and if he hemorrhages again, he could die fast."

Jo covered her mouth with her hand as she was shocked with this news. "Did you get the bullet?" she asked.

"Not yet. Sheldon will let me know when he has it. Did Adam locate Mac's cell phone yet?"

"He hasn't said anything about it."

Just then, Adam walked around the corner. "I just got a location on Mac's cell phone," he said.

They followed Adam to the computer lab and looked at the screen where a blinking triangle and a small red dot indicated where Mac's phone was which was nowhere near the pharmacy or his apartment. "I'm heading that way," Don said and grabbed his phone as he was leaving the computer lab.

Jo stared at the computer screen. "Isn't that a bar?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Adam replied.

"I think that's an old run-down bar. I don't think many people go there anymore but I know Mac's phone should not be there."

Don got his team together and just as they were about to leave, Danny came from the precinct. "I'm going too," he said.

Don headed toward the address where Mac's phone was located. Danny looked at the GPS. "That's an old bar," Danny said and looked at Don. "Mac's phone is there?"

"Yeah, that's what it says," Don replied.

"I don't think that bar's even in operation anymore. I think it was condemned."

"Maybe it's a hideout now."

"And our perp is there."

When they arrived at the address, they found that the bar was definitely not in operation anymore. The front door looked like it was almost hanging on the hinge and the place looked like it had not seen paint in many years. It was not made of brick or stone, but of wood. Danny and Don moved up to the door and one of the other officers shoved it open. They looked into darkness as they went inside. Danny was looking at the GPS on his phone to guide them to where Mac's phone was. They soon came to a door. "It's in this room," Danny said.

They got on either side of the door and one of the other officers kicked the door open. All they found was an old, dusty room with some old furniture in it, but the furniture was not dusty as it looked like someone had been using it. "There's no one here," Don said disappointed. He put his weapon away.

Danny walked over to the middle of the room as he was pulling on a pair of latex gloves. He picked up Mac's phone from the floor and looked at it as the screen came to life. He frowned and looked at Don. "What?" Don asked.

Danny held the phone up so Don could see the message that had been typed on the screen. _Try Again. _Don stared at it a moment. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "This punk is taunting us now?"

"Looks like it," Danny said.

"I can't wait to get my hands on this guy."

Danny looked around the room. "Call Jo and tell her to come here so we can process this scene," he said.

Don got his phone in frustration and called Jo. Jo soon arrived. She stared at the room. "And you're telling me that he left a message?" she asked.

"Yeah," Danny replied. He showed Jo the message.

"How cocky can you get?"

"Looks like this guy thinks he's uncatchable."

"Well, he's about to find out different."

Jo put on a pair of gloves and opened the forensics kit. They put Mac's phone into a bag and labeled it. Then they began looking around the room. Jo examined the cot that was in the room just hoping to find a hair although they already had the fingerprints of this perpetrator and still could not find him. She carefully folded the bedding and put it into evidence bags so that they could examine it more carefully at the lab. Then she noticed something in the corner under the cot. It sparkled. Jo knelt beside the cot and reached for the shiny object. She realized it was a jewel from an earring. It still had the back on it, but the stem was gone. Jo stared at it a moment. Was their thief a girl? She thought maybe that was why she was able to get behind Mac. But then again, there was no telling how many people had been in this room over the years. However, this earring was not covered in dust.

Jo looked around where Danny was examining the table in the room. "Danny," she said.

Danny looked at her. "You find something?" he asked.

"Yes." Jo held the earring in her hand as Danny came over to take a look.

Danny stared at it a moment and then looked at Jo. "You think a girl is behind all this?" he asked.

"It's possible."

Danny was surprised. "Maybe that was how she got behind Mac," Jo suggested. "Maybe she made him think she was an innocent bystander."

"And when he turned his back…" Danny shook his head. "That would explain a lot. Mac must have thought she found the body."

Don Flack walked back into the room just then. "You find anything?" he asked.

"Yeah," Danny replied. "Our perp may be a female."

"What?"

Jo showed Don the earring. "Get outa here," Don said. "So we're looking for a girl."

"Looks like it," Jo replied. She put her hands on her hips. "It just baffles me that y'all are so surprised that a woman would be capable of this."

"Hey, let's not get that started," Danny said.

"Mac must have thought the same thing. That's why she was behind him."

Don shook his head. "He didn't suspect her," he said.

Jo sighed. "What must have gone through his head," she said. "He didn't suspect her at all, or he wouldn't have turned his back."

"She must be young," Danny said. "Innocent looking."

"I'm calling this in," Don said. "We're going to case that area around the pharmacy and see if anyone saw a young girl coming from there."

"She went out the back door, Don," Jo said. "And she left her sweatshirt behind which had no hair in it."

"I'll get on it."

Danny and Jo went back to processing the room. "You have to admit that it's a rare event for a young girl to be a cold-blooded killer," Danny remarked.

"Sure is," Jo agreed. "What would make her want to do this?"

"Drugs. Maybe she's addicted. Maybe she is getting them for someone else or maybe she is going to sell them."

"She knew she wouldn't be able to get past Mac if he was aware of what she was doing. That must be why she shot him."

Danny found a partially eaten sandwich in a garbage can that was hidden in a cabinet. "I guess she didn't think of everything," he said. He bagged the evidence.

When they finished with the room, they went back to the lab. Lindsey had finished with the fingerprints. "There is no match to the fingerprints," she said. "Except for one set of fingerprints on the weapon." She gave the portable computer screen to Jo.

Jo stared at it with her mouth open a moment. She looked at Lindsey. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Don't tell me there's another surprise in this case," Danny said.

Jo showed him the screen. "Mac's prints were on the weapon," Jo said. "That's wasn't Mac's weapon."

"No, it wasn't," Lindsey replied. "The pharmacist's prints were also on the weapon as well as the unknown perp, but Mac's prints were in the position of a person who was about to use the weapon. The fingerprints that match the ones in the pharmacy that was ransacked are in a position like someone who just picked the gun up. The bullets from this gun do not match the bullet that killed the pharmacist and we just got the bullets they pulled from Mac. They are the same as the bullet that killed the pharmacist."

"So, this weapon has nothing to do with the crime," Jo said. "Why did Mac have it?"

"Maybe the pharmacist had it and when the perp shot him, he dropped it and when Mac walked in, he didn't have his weapon, so he used it," Danny said. "That must be how his fingerprints got in a firing position on it."

Jo considered that. "So, Mac walks into the pharmacy and sees the pharmacist…the thief, murderer must have been there with the body," she said.

"And she pretended that she had walked in and found the body," Danny said.

"She?" Lindsey asked.

"Yeah. We think this person is a female."

"So, Mac picks up the weapon and starts to search for the perpetrator and doesn't realize it's the person behind him and she shoots him in the back," Jo said.

"She must have robbed the pharmacy after she shot him," Lindsey said.

"She just stepped over him and went about her crime," Jo said and frowned. "That just makes me so mad."

"We're going to find her," Danny said.

"Oh, you're right about that. This person is a cold-blooded killer and she's going to face justice for it."

Lindsey was analyzing Mac's clothing in the lab. She looked at the two bullet holes that were surrounded by blood. She remembered when Mac had gone into that bank after that Scott guy. The guy had taken him hostage and knocked Mac out, but Lindsey had found a bullet hole in Mac's shirt. Mac had not had any bullet wounds, but he had found the bullet inside his shirt. All they had been able to come up with was that the bullet had just lost momentum by the time it went through Mac's shirt. Lindsey stared at the blood. That was not the case this time. The two bullet holes looked different. She took a sample of the black substance around one of the bullet holes. It turned out to be gunshot residue or GSR. There was no GSR around the other bullet hole. She realized that the killer had shot him at close range after he had collapsed from the first shot.

Jo was in her office when Lindsey came in. "Look at this," Lindsey said and showed Jo the results of her tests.

Jo looked at the information. "He was shot at close range," she said. She looked at Lindsey. "We have to find this girl. I just can't believe someone this cold blooded has never committed a crime."

"It's hard to believe," Lindsey agreed. "I'll run her fingerprints through the national database and see what pops up."

"She did this by herself. There were no other fingerprints."

"I analyzed the DNA from the sandwich Danny found. There were no hits from that and the earring piece that you found had no DNA on it either. The stem was broken off."

"What about the bedding?" Jo asked.

"I'm about to start on that now. I just wanted to show you the results of Mac's clothes analysis."

"Thanks."

Jo stared at the information some more after Lindsey left. The thief had shot him after he was down, obviously. Jo figured that was the only way she could have gotten that close to him. Jo thought about Mac. She supposed she could go down there to see him while they were waiting for evidence and a lead…anything. They were at a standstill right now. She got her sweater and keys and went into the lab. "Let me know how the analysis of the bedding turns out," she said. "I'm going to visit Mac."

"Okay," Lindsey replied.

Jo went down and got a cab and went to the hospital. Sheldon was sitting in the waiting area when Jo walked in. "How is he?" she asked.

"I don't know," Sheldon replied. "They won't let anyone in to see him yet."

Jo noticed the sad, defeated look on Sheldon's face. "Have they told you anything else?" she asked.

"Nothing." Sheldon looked at her. "It's bad enough that he was shot in the back but that he was shot by someone he thought he could trust."

Jo sat down beside Sheldon. "What's worse…she shot him at close range, probably after he was down."

Sheldon looked at Jo. "Close range?"

"Yes. There was GSR around one of the bullet holes."

Sheldon thought about that. "So, she shot him and then shot him again after he was down." He shook his head. "How does someone that cold-blooded just wake up one day and say, '_I think I'm gonna rob a pharmacy and murder people today_'? This seems like someone that has done this before."

"That's what I'm thinking. She doesn't seem to care that we have her fingerprints either or her DNA."

"We have her DNA now?"

"Yes. She left a partially eaten sandwich in the garbage at the hideout."

"You have any clues that connect her to any other robberies or murders?"

"Lindsey and Adam are looking into that. They'll let me know. As of now, we're at a standstill."

Sheldon shook his head. "It's strange that no one saw anything," he said.

"Don is casing that neighborhood to see if anyone saw a young girl around there. Maybe he will find a surveillance camera that got a shot of her."

"She took the ones in the pharmacy. She's smart, Jo."

"Not smarter than us. We're going to surprise her."

"She's gotten away with something before or she would not be so bold and so prepared."

"Maybe she's been taught by someone."

"I'm just thinking that there has to be someone else involved in this," Sheldon said. "Just because they didn't leave a trace doesn't mean they weren't there. They know her fingerprints aren't in the system so they're having her commit their crimes for them."

"And why would she want to do this?" Jo asked.

"Why do people commit crimes?"

"Money, sex, love, jealousy, hate…there are a lot of reasons."

Sheldon stood up. "I just wish they would let us know something," he said.

"Well, why don't you just go back there and find out?" Jo asked.

"I've been thinking of doing that but he's in critical condition. I don't want to go back there and upset things."

"I understand that, but I want you to go back there."

Sheldon smiled slightly and went to the double doors and swiped his doctor's pass. A nurse met him in the hall. Sheldon showed her his doctor's pass that he still had although he did not work at the hospital anymore. "I want to see Mac Taylor," Sheldon said. "I'm his friend and occasionally his personal physician."

"Right this way, Doctor Hawkes," the nurse said.

Sheldon followed her to one of the Intensive Care rooms where Mac was. Of course, he was practically covered in wires. The heart monitor was beeping, and the respirator was helping him breathe. "How is he?" Sheldon asked.

"Not good," the nurse replied. "He's had some more hemorrhaging, but we caught it in time."

Sheldon frowned. "What are his chances?" he asked.

"Maybe fifty-fifty."

"Thank you. I'll stay with him a while."

The nurse left and Sheldon looked at Mac. Hanging by a thread of life…Sheldon shook his head. He pulled a chair up beside Mac's bed. "You hang in there, Mac," he said. "You've always been a fighter. Fight for yourself. You've fought for plenty of other people."

Jo's phone rang while she was sitting in the waiting area. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo, I found a hair on the bedding," Lindsey said. "It's a long, red hair. Our thief must have long, red hair and the DNA in the root that was attached to the hair was definitely from a female."

"And you didn't find anything else?"

"Nothing. No body fluids or anything except sweat but that turns out to be from the same person."

"Okay."

Jo put her phone away. She wondered how they were going to catch up with this thief unless she decided to rob another pharmacy or something. Jo knew there had to be more to this story than she knew but she intended to find out. Just then, her phone rang again. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo, we've been all over that neighborhood down there," Don said. "No one saw anything. It was so early in the morning everyone was probably still in bed or just weren't paying attention."

"She was careful."

"I did find out something from Adam. He says there have been a string of robberies along the East Coast and they were all pharmacies. The fingerprints from those robberies are the same as the ones in ours. There have been murders at three of them."

"How many robberies are we talking about?"

"Seven, including ours."

"And this girl was involved in them all."

"Right."

"What is she doing with these drugs though?"

"We're gonna find out if there have been any of these drugs showing up in the city," Don said. "Or maybe they're stealing them to make a mixture."

"They would go to all this trouble for it?" Jo asked.

"That and the thrill of getting away with it. She's getting cocky now though and this time she's wounded a cop."

"And even left a taunting message on Mac's phone."

"I'm still looking. I'm going to find her."

"Let me know if you find anything."

"I will."

Jo put her phone away. She looked toward the double doors. She was tempted to try and get in there herself, but she knew she could not. Instead she went down and got a cab back to the crime scene. She looked at where the pharmacist had been lying and where Mac had dragged himself across the floor desperately trying to survive and get help. She went to the register booth and looked at Mac's blood that was still there. Crime scene cleanup would come soon and there would be no indication that there was ever any blood here…a murder, attempted murder. If Mac could wake up, he could tell them what the girl looked like. Jo was sure he would remember that face. She just hoped he woke up soon. She had never seen Mac in a hospital. He barely slept until she had talked him into having a life outside the lab. She did not like seeing him work himself to death almost and she had noticed that he seemed happier now that he actually got some sleep. She walked to the pharmacy area where the thief had broken all the containers to get the drugs. Actually, Jo thought she poured the drugs out and then just smashed the containers in the floor. She thought it looked like this criminal had a lot of anger. When they found her, Jo did not believe she would give up easily and she might even try to thwart their investigation somehow. They would be ready for her though.

No one suspected that the young girl trying to get a job as a CNA in the hospital was a cold-blooded killer or that she had robbed a pharmacy and killed the pharmacist and almost killed a detective. She looked just like a sweet young girl trying to get a summer job while she was out of college. No one knew that she had other motives for getting that job. She intended to do more than deliver meals to the patients in the hospital. She had to eliminate a witness. She did not think it would take long or that it would take much effort. Of course, she would have to keep the job for a while, which would be an advantage to her since she would be within reach of the hospital pharmacy. She would have to stay there until her victim started eating…if he ever did…or maybe she would take a wrong turn in the hospital and put him out of his misery.


	3. Chapter 3

She looked innocent on the outside but on the inside, she was a raging inferno of hatred. She had not had a good life after all with the home she came from. Then when she had tried to make her life better, they had rejected her. She had been a nursing aide for two years and when she took the test to go into nursing school, they had rejected her. Well, she had quit that job and now she made havoc of the medical profession. She had robbed all those pharmacies, leaving no witnesses if there had been any. She had learned how to dismantle security cameras and make them disappear without a trace. Of course, that part was easy since she knew someone down at the crematorium. She had no qualms about killing people. She had not had any feelings for anyone since she was twelve…which was the last time she was raped. She had made that rapist disappear without a trace too. She knew how to bribe the guy at the crematorium, and he had better not cross her either or maybe he would disappear.

As she pushed the cart of trays down the hall delivering meals, she thought about that detective she had shot. She had been sure he would die…after all, she had shot him twice, once up close. They always fell for her innocent look. He had fallen for it. She knew how to bring fear into her eyes. After all, she had spent half her life in fear. No one had cared then, so she did not care about lives now. The detective had said his name was Detective Taylor. That was the only reason she knew his name. She did not normally know her victims' names. Why could he not just die so she would not have to go through all this? She would not leave him to be a witness. She was sure he would remember her face if he woke up. He was not eating meals yet so she did not deliver meals to his room. He was still in intensive care. She thought maybe he would die there and then she could walk out from this job…after all, she did not need the money.

Sheldon was in Mac's room, but Mac was not awake. He was not likely to wake up today. They had no more leads on the suspect. Only Mac could help them further with that. Even the other police departments where the other robberies had happened did not know anything else. Every robbery had the same MO or _modus operandi _which was that the criminal had the same mode of operation every time they committed a crime and that let them know that the same person had committed all these crimes. Sheldon could hardly believe that a woman had committed all those crimes and it was believed that she was pretty young, maybe in her twenties. There had been no witnesses left in any of the crimes and no one had seen anything. This woman knew what time to commit these crimes so that there would be no one to see her and she always left an article of clothing behind. No one knew where she would strike next because she left no pattern.

Sheldon rubbed his face. He was tired of thinking about it, but it was all he could think about. He wondered what she would do when she found out that Mac was still alive…if she did not already know. Would she be so bold as to try and kill him? Sheldon hoped it did not come to that. He did not want to leave Mac here alone, but he could not be here with him 24 hours a day. He had to work, and he could not stay here all the time. He stood up and looked at Mac who looked terribly pale. He was still struggling for life and was nowhere near out of the woods yet. One of those bullets had gone very close to his heart. He could not move until that wound had healed considerably. "Hang in there, Mac," Sheldon said softly. "You can make it through this." He touched Mac's hand. "We're all here for you, Mac."

Sheldon remembered when Mac had let him start working in the field. He had thought Mac was looking over his shoulder…and he was, but Mac was not afraid to let someone have the lead and see what they could discover, and he was glad to give them the credit for figuring something out. Sheldon did not think there would ever be another boss like Mac. Mac was a team player and he was more like a mentor and friend than a boss…but he could be the "boss" too. Sheldon remembered times when he had become "boss" when he crossed the line with cases by not telling that he knew the victim and that he had been acquainted with them. Mac always seemed to hate having to get angry at someone, but he was the boss of that lab and he had to make sure it was run right so that there would be no question about their work.

Sheldon left the room and stood in the hall a moment. They had to figure out who did this. They could not hide forever, and no one could commit a perfect crime. There had to be something that she missed. Of course, she did not care about her fingerprints or DNA being found because she was not in the system. Sheldon could hardly believe that. This person was so devious they had gotten away with all these crimes and who knows what else?

As Sheldon reached the waiting room, he found Danny there. "Hey, how's he doing?" Danny asked.

"Still critical," Sheldon said. "It will be a while before they wake him up. Are there any more clues into this?"

"Nothing. Whoever did this is very clever, and I can't believe only one person was involved. It just seems like there would have to be at least two."

"That's what I was thinking but there certainly are no indications of anyone else being involved."

"No one saw anything, no one heard anything. There are no indications that she used a silencer. Why did no one hear the shots?"

"Beats me."

"This criminal is really bold to pull off these crimes like this."

"It was early. Maybe there was a lot of noise going on at the time and it drowned out the shots."

"That would be lucky."

"But maybe she knew the shots would be drowned out. Maybe she picked a pharmacy where she knew there was a lot of noise going on somewhere and she knew no one would hear the shots."

Danny considered that. "You may be right. I didn't even notice if there was construction or anything going on in the area," he said.

"We should check into that."

"You think this perp goes around looking for pharmacies that have construction work going on close to them so the shots will be drowned out?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're in a neighborhood where there's a lot of commotion going on and no one would notice anyone running from that scene."

They left the hospital with a little hope of discovering some sort of clue…not knowing what kind of danger they were leaving Mac in as they passed right by the wicked person who had put him there in the first place but did not know her.

Danny and Sheldon arrived back at the lab where Jo was in her office talking to Don on the phone. "Don still hasn't found anything," Jo said as she hung up the phone.

"We have an idea," Danny informed her. "It's a long shot but it's worth a try."

"Let's hear it."

"Maybe this thief picks pharmacies where there's a lot of commotion going on outside or something. Maybe construction or something. We got to wondering why no one heard the shots."

Jo considered that. "So you think she picks places where there is construction going on?" she asked.

"Could be," Sheldon said. "It sounds kinda strange, but you never know what a perp is thinking."

"We'll find out."

They went into the computer lab and got Adam to find out if there were any construction sites near the pharmacy. They found out that there was a construction crew breaking up the sidewalk next door to the pharmacy. The sidewalk had been cracked and was crumbling and people had stumbled on it so they were replacing that area. "They must have been using jackhammers on that," Jo said.

"I would imagine they were," Danny replied. "We have to figure out if it was going on at the time of this robbery. Maybe that was why no one was paying attention."

"Could be but it wouldn't help us find the killer."

"But if that is what she always chooses, it might help us figure out where her next target is."

"She might not even strike in this city next."

"It's worth a try. We can find out and scope out all the pharmacies that have construction going on nearby."

"Let's get to it."

They analyzed all the crime scenes where the same thief had been found to be the perpetrator and found that not all of them had construction going on but that some of them were in areas with just regular noise going on all the time. For instance, one was close to an airport and another was close to an amusement park where people were always screaming and there were all kinds of noises. These types of sounds would not be so noticeable in these places.

"She's definitely clever," Danny said. "She hits places that she has plenty of time to get away before anyone realizes there is anything going on. She may even pretend to be working there or pretend to have found the victim before she takes another victim and she has the door locked while she is dismantling the cameras and taking the medications."

Jo was sitting there staring out the window and twirling her necklace just thinking. "What are you thinking about," Danny wanted to know.

"Well, we're talking about how she didn't leave any witnesses at any of these crimes," Jo said. "I'll just bet that she thought Mac would die." She looked at Danny and Sheldon. "Don't you think she would want to eliminate that thread since he is the only person who has lived who saw her like that?"

Danny considered that a moment. "You think she will come after Mac?" he asked.

"I do, and I think we can sit there and wait for her because eventually, she is going to show up to eliminate that loose end and she won't expect us to figure it out. She may even try to take more drugs."

"What caused her to do all this?" Sheldon asked. "Why is she this cold blooded?"

"I don't know," Jo said. "But she is about to be put out of her misery."

She had not been able to get to the floor where Mac was the day before but it was morning now and she knew he had survived the night. She thought since he survived the night, he might just make it out of that hospital. She had to make sure he did not. She would be working the next night which would be a better time because there would be far fewer people in the hospital. She always worked in places where there were not many people…her work being thievery most of the time but she was never high on the drugs. Why would she want to be high? She just wanted the money she could get for them. She deserved it.

Jo and Don were at the hospital sitting in the waiting area. They could see Mac later that day, even though he would not be awake. They had not seen him since he was put in there. "Why can't we go in and see him now?" Don asked impatiently.

"I guess the doctor has to see him first," Jo replied. "When someone is in intensive care, they are fragile."

Don frowned. "He's gonna make it."

Jo looked at him and squeezed his hand. "He has to."

Don knew he would not even be standing there if it had not been for Mac in that building where the bomb had exploded. He had woken up days later not knowing whether he was in the world or not and discovered later that half his abdomen had been blown open. He had not known what all Mac did but he was told later by someone besides Mac. Mac was never one to brag about anything except his team. He had always been proud of his team and he never took all the credit for anything.

Jo remembered when Mac had considered quitting the lab for good but she had hoped he would not. She had not wanted to be the boss of that lab, but they would have hired someone else. She did not know anyone else who could run that lab the way Mac did. She had never believed that he would not come back but now she thought maybe it would have been better if he had not come back. Maybe he would not have been here when that robbery happened and…Jo shook her head at her thoughts. She could say 'maybe' all day but it would not change what happened. Mac was lying in ICU fighting for his life because someone wanted to steal drugs.

Soon, the doctor came and told them that they could go in one at a time. Don let Jo go first, so she went down the hall where she had to put on sterilized clothing over her clothes as well as a mask before she went in where Mac was. He certainly did not need to be in the presence of any germs in his condition but he needed visitors. Jo went into the room and was told that she only had ten minutes. She stared at the bed where Mac was for a moment. She watched as air was pumped into his lungs by the respirator.

Mac's wounds were very delicate. Jo walked over to the bed trying not to cry. She sat down in the chair beside his bed and looked at his hand which had two IV's in it. She took a deep breath and then touched his fingers. "We're still looking for the person who did this," she said. "She's quite clever…"

Somehow, Mac heard what Jo said. His mind flashed back to the moment he saw that girl in the…pharmacy? Yes, he had been in the pharmacy. She had told him that she found the body of the pharmacist like that. She was young and he had not considered her even a suspect but he remembered the shock of feeling that bullet hit him in the back. Why could he not move and tell Jo who had done this? He felt as though his body weighed a ton and he could not wake up or move at all.

"…get better," Jo was saying. "I don't want to be the boss of that lab and I don't want to have to put up with someone else."

Mac could hear that Southern accent of Jo's. He had always liked that about her. She was different. Then again, his team members came from several different places. Lindsey was from Montana and Adam was from Arizona; Sheldon was from Pennsylvania. Mac thought of Danny and Lindsey and Lucy. Lucy was growing so much now. She was not a little tiny baby anymore.

"The last time you wanted to leave the lab, I had to interview people," Jo said. "No one has your experience and ability to run that lab. And they don't have your compassion and caring as a boss either. You just have all those characteristics rolled into one person. That's very rare."

Jo stared at Mac a moment. She rubbed his forearm just to see if he would react but he did not move except the way that respirator moved him. She looked at the bandages that covered much of his chest. Wounds like that had to heal from the inside out. She had been shot before…once. She remembered what it felt like to feel that hot piece of metal hit the body and keep going and feel it tearing into the body. She remembered hitting the ground and wondering what had hit her because she had not even heard the sound of the gun that shot her but something had knocked her to the ground and she could feel that searing, hot pain. She thought hitting the ground made one forget some of the initial impact but she remembered later.

"You hang in there, Mac," Jo said. She knew her time was almost up. "We need you at that lab."

Mac thought he was tired of the lab. He loved his job but he thought he needed a change in life. He was always on call and usually did not have time for anything else. What else did he need time for? He felt like he had nothing else but that job. Jo had convinced him that he needed something else…that his job should not be the most important thing in his life. She had opened his eyes up to a lot of things, especially how he needed to take care of himself. He had told her before that maybe he had done his part…he was not sure where he was at the moment. Yes, he had been shot. He had been shot!

Jo noticed that the heart monitor was speeding up and started blaring an alarm. She stood up. "Mac!"

Suddenly, three nurses came running in. "You'll have to leave," one of them said.

"What's happening to him?"

One of the nurses pushed Jo from the room as more nurses came in and a doctor. Jo stood in the hall wondering what was happening to Mac.

Mac felt like he was somewhere besides in his body. He thought he opened his eyes and saw nurses around him. Was he in the hospital? Was he dying? Who was that who had just been talking to him? He had thought someone was talking to him but he could not respond. Why could he not move?

Jo took off the sterile clothes and went out where Don was. Don could see the concerned look on her face. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jo replied. "I was sitting there talking to him and all of a sudden the heart monitor started racing and then alarming. I don't know what's happening."

Don looked toward the doors that led to ICU. He hoped Mac was not dying.

Mac did not know if he was dying or not but he was standing up in the ICU room staring at what they were doing to his body. What were they doing? Were they trying to save his life? He realized he was "looking" at his own body. If he was not in his body, where was he? If he was not in his body, he had to be…nowhere? Well, if this was nowhere, he certainly was not expecting it to be like this, although he was not feeling any pain.

He looked toward the door of the room. Could he walk out of here? He supposed there was only one way to find out. He walked over to the door…or did he walk? He was not sure. He reached for the door knob but realized he did not have to open the door. He walked out into the hall and looked around him. Was this ICU? He must be in pretty bad shape if he was in ICU. He looked back toward the room but he did not want to go back in there.

Mac looked down at himself to see how he was dressed but he was not wearing a hospital gown. He was wearing what he usually wore to the office, a blue shirt, black pants. Why could he not wear jeans? He supposed he could not be choosy at the moment. He stopped a moment. If he was not in his body, where was he? Was he between life and death? His life might be only work, but he did not want to die.

Mac walked on toward the double doors. When he got out into the hall, he saw Jo and Don. They looked worried. Jo was leaning on Don's shoulder and she wiped a tear from her face. Was she crying? Mac had not seen her cry much since he knew her. Did she think he was dying? Don was staring toward the double doors. Mac was sure they were worried about him. He was not sure he wanted to go back. He was not having any pain and if he went back and lived, he would have to go through a lot of pain. Would anyone really miss him if he was gone? Would it really make a difference if he was not there? His team was the best and they did a lot of the work. He supervised but he could not do all the work by himself. They would be fine without him.

Mac walked on and soon came to the exit of the hospital. He wondered what all he could do. He went outside and thought about the lab…and then he was there…in his office. How did he get there? He had not walked and did not get a cab. His office…he looked around it. He spent a lot of time in this office. He even slept in it at times. Jo was right, he was supposed to spend more time at home and come to the office to work, not to "live". He was supposed to live at home. She always told him he had his life backward. Maybe he did but he had gotten into a routine and it was hard to break.

He looked out the window of his office and realized it was day outside. When he turned around, Claire was standing in the office. "Claire?" he said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"This is my office. What do you mean?" Mac scowled. "What are 'you' doing here?"

"My chance to see you."

Mac walked over to her. "How did we wind up here?" he asked.

"You always loved your office," Claire said with a smile.

"But not as much as I loved you."

"Oh, I knew that. You just liked your work."

"Too much. Now, I'm alone."

"Why are you alone? I'm sure there must be some women out there who find you attractive."

Mac smiled that shy smile of his. Claire smiled. "You were always so shy," she said.

"Except when I was with you," Mac said.

"What about when we went to the deli?"

Suddenly, they were there with all the people around them waiting for their orders. Mac smiled as he remembered. "You always said we should take two numbers even if we were ordering together," he said. "You thought we were getting ahead of the game."

"But we were always distracted when we were together and if we missed the first number, we would surely hear the second," Claire said.

"Maybe you should have been a detective too. You were always figuring things out."

Mac's smile faded. "I've missed you so much," he said.

Claire touched his face and suddenly, they were in their old apartment. Mac looked around them and then looked at Claire. "I should have been here more," he said. "I could have given some of those cases to other people."

"I cherish every moment we had together," Claire said.

Mac thought he felt dizzy and then he was back in the room where nurses were around him. He could see that they were talking but he could not hear a word they were saying. He closed his eyes and then he was at the lab again. Lindsey was in the lab, along with Danny. They were sitting at their desk which they shared with a chair on each side. "We have to face the possibility that he could die," Lindsey said. "What would happen if he died? We would have to find another godfather for Lucy."

Danny sighed. "I know that," he said. "I don't want to think of Mac dying right now."

"I don't either but I'm worried. He hasn't woken up and he's not doing well."

Mac scowled at their conversation. They thought he was going to die. Was he dying? He thought of Lucy. She was getting bigger all the time and she loved him. He had never thought a whole lot about what it meant to be a godfather. It meant if something were to happen to them, he would be responsible for Lucy at least until her grandparents decided who would take her. He had never thought of Danny and Lindsey dying or being killed. They were much younger than him and he always assumed that he would die before they did.

The next thing Mac knew, he was at home in his apartment. He realized that he hated being at home. It was lonely and quiet and he thought that was the reason he never wanted to come home. There was no one here to share his life with. What life? He had no life outside the lab. Why should he fight for life?

Next, he was in the hall of the hospital where Don and Jo were. "It's taking so long," Jo said and looked at Don with a worried look.

Don looked like he was just as worried. "I'm calling the others," he said. "They need to know this."

Mac watched as Don dialed the phone and called to let the others know that he was…what? Did they think he was dead? He looked at the double doors that led into the ICU. He looked at Jo who was pacing back and forth a little with one hand on her hip. She looked like she was plenty worried. Why did she care so much about him? He thought she just had a caring nature.

Then Sheldon walked in. "What's going on?" he asked. "I just got back."

"We don't know what's going on?" Jo replied.

Mac watched them all worrying over him. He wondered what they would think if they knew he was standing here. Standing here? He could not be standing here in this hall….


	4. Chapter 4

Mac looked toward the doors that led back to his room where his body was in torment and possibly dying. What if they gave him up for dead? He supposed he would not be able to go back then. He was not sure he wanted to go back. He walked around in the waiting room watching Jo and Don as they worried and Don was talking to someone on the phone. Suddenly, Sid walked in.

"How is he?" Sid asked.

"Oh, Sid, we don't know," Jo replied and hugged Sid.

Just then, the doctor came out and told them that Mac was stabilized again but he would have to be under constant watch. His condition was very fragile and he did not need any visitors at the moment. Mac scowled at that. Why did he not need any visitors? He had spent too much of his life alone already. Did he have to die alone too? He would rather die with his friends around him than to die alone. If they could not go in there, he would just not go back either.

Mac stood and watched as the others sat down in the waiting area. They all looked sad and worried. "There is still no more word on the perp," Don said. "It's like she's a ghost or something and has dropped off the face of the earth."

"I want her found," Jo declared sharply. "She can't stay hidden forever and she is going to pay for doing this to Mac and she better hope I am not the one who finds her first."

Mac had never heard Jo talk like that. She looked steaming angry too. He knew she cared about him because she was always trying to get him to do what was "best" for him. He thought she sounded like his mother. She used to always say "You need to do what's best for you."

Mac smiled as he thought of his mother. Then he was in the cemetery where his mother and father were buried. His father was buried with military honors but he had wanted to be buried beside his wife. Mac remembered how much they had loved each other. He had tried to have that kind of love for his own wife. He supposed that was why he found it so hard to let go and accept someone else. He would have loved Claire to his dying day but she was gone. Would this be his dying day?

Mac was suddenly in the house he grew up in. He remembered running through this house chasing his brother and being chased. He smiled as he thought of that. They were only two years apart, Mac being the oldest. He supposed they had probably run a hundred miles in this house and probably a thousand outside. He walked into his old bedroom that was somehow still decorated with his military scenes. He had planes hanging from the ceiling and camouflage curtains and bedspread. He had wanted camouflage carpet but his mother would not allow it so he had to settle for beige which looked like sand so that would do.

Mac walked into the kitchen of the house where his mother had prepared many great meals and his father too. They had cooked together and then they had all sat down at the table and ate together. He supposed he would never have anything like that now. He was too old to start a family and he did not think he had the patience either.

Mac closed his eyes and he was back at the lab again. He wondered how he could travel so far so fast. This could not be real. He was dreaming…but why was he in the lab again. He walked out of his office, again not using the door. He walked down toward the computer lab because he heard some noise going on down there. As he walked in, he saw Adam. Mac scowled as he looked at what Adam was doing. He was watching surveillance videos.

"I'm going to find you," Adam said. "You can't stay hidden forever. You can't kill someone like Mac Taylor and get away with it."

Mac frowned as he heard what Adam was saying. Adam rubbed his eyes and Mac wondered how long he had been staring at those tapes. Adam sipped some coffee and continued scanning the tapes. Mac sighed…or at least he thought he did. Then, Danny came into the computer lab. "You see anything yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," Adam replied. "But I am still looking."

"Somebody had to see that girl who did this. If only someone could give us a description."

Mac realized they did not know what the girl looked like. He did not know of any way that he could let them know…unless he woke up and told them. He did not know the girl's name though. She was just a young looking girl and he was not sure how old she was. He would guess that she was at least twenty. He had not seen anything around here that had a picture of her. He was sure they had no idea what she looked like. Would she get away with this? She had murdered that pharmacist and had tried to murder him. He supposed he was hanging on by a thread…but if he did not wake up, they might never find her.

"Let's scan those streets around that pharmacy the morning of the murder and robbery," Danny said. "Maybe we missed something."

Adam went back to the morning of the crime. "I've gone over these several times," he said. "I haven't seen anything. I didn't see anyone go into that pharmacy except the pharmacist and Mac."

Danny scowled. "There must be a gap in the surveillance then and she had disabled the cameras inside the pharmacy. I'm sure she knew right where those security cameras from other businesses were outside and how far they show the street."

"You think she could disable all that?"

"If there's a gap in that, maybe she cut the power somehow."

"But how?"

They watched as the pharmacist went into the pharmacy at around 8 am which was an hour before the pharmacy opened. "He must have gotten there early to get things in order for the day," Danny remarked. "He was killed close to nine a.m. so this is about an hour before the thief entered the store or she got in before that and just hung around in the store a while before she killed him."

"Maybe she worked there or something," Adam suggested. "Maybe she was someone the pharmacist knew."

"But she would still have to go into the pharmacy."

"Maybe she went in through the back door. Maybe there's more to this than we know."

Danny considered that. "Are you saying that you think the pharmacist was dealing drugs?" he asked. "If that's the case, why would she kill him?"

"Maybe he wanted out."

Mac had not thought of the pharmacist being involved…of course he did not…he had not had time to think of anything. He wondered what was happening with this mess. He was not sure how much time had passed. However, he remembered the face of that girl who had shot him. He remembered how it had gone from innocent to evil in a split second. He watched Danny and Adam a few more minutes and then walked out of the computer lab.

Why was he here at the crime lab? He walked back to his office but he thought he should go back to the hospital now. It was starting to get dark again. He had been out here roaming around for quite a while. Time had passed quickly. He wanted to go back to the hospital…

Suddenly, he was there. He walked into the building and just as he was about to try and get up to the right floor, he noticed someone who looked familiar. Mac stared in disbelief as he realized who he was looking at. It was the girl he had seen in the pharmacy…the one who had murdered the pharmacist…and who had tried to murder him. What was she doing here? He walked over to her and watched what she was doing. How did she get a job here at this hospital? She was a nurses' assistant. He wondered how long she had been working here.

Mac followed her into the elevator to see where she was going. Was she here to finish him off? He stared at her, seeing that evil look just under the surface of her eyes. What were her plans here? As the elevator stopped, Mac was surprised that they were on the ICU floor. What were they doing here? He followed her out of the elevator. He saw Jo still in the hallway. He had to let her know what was going on. He walked over to her as the girl went on the other way.

"Jo!" Mac said. "She's here in this hospital!"

Of course, Jo could not hear him. She was just worrying and sitting there in the waiting room. "JO!" Mac said.

Jo flinched and for a moment, he thought she heard him but she rubbed her leg as though it were hurting. She stood up and walked around. Mac followed her. "You have to listen to me," he said. "She's here! She must be wanting to finish me off!"

Jo looked at her watch and folded her arms. Mac followed her down to the kitchenette there in the waiting room. She poured a cup of coffee and fixed it as she stared at the wall. Mac wondered if there was some way he could get her attention. He attempted to touch the Styrofoam coffee cups and they fell over.

"Oh," Jo said. "Clumsy me." She set the cups back up and then continued to fix her coffee.

Mac knocked the cups over again. Jo stared at them a moment and then looked around her curiously. She set the cups up again and then looked around her again. Mac knew this might freak her out but he knocked them over again. Jo gasped and stared at the cups. She looked around her as though she thought someone was there. "It's me, Jo," Mac whispered in her ear.

Jo stood still as though she were listening. She shook her head and blew out a breath. She set the cups up again and then walked away with her coffee. "I must really be losing it," she said.

Mac followed her. He had to get her attention somehow. As Jo was walking down the hall, Mac saw the girl from the pharmacy coming that way pushing a cart. He hurried ahead of Jo and knocked something off the cart so that Jo and the girl would meet. The girl gasped as a glass bottle hit the floor and shattered. Not only that, but several cups of medications fell and splattered all over the floor.

"Oh dear," Jo said. "I think this area of this hospital is haunted. Things just have a mind of their own."

The girl stared at Jo wondering if she would be suspicious. "I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what happened."

Jo stared at the girl realizing that she had long red hair. She could not be suspicious of every person she saw with red hair. "Let me help," Jo said as she grabbed the dustpan.

Mac rolled his eyes. "Don't help her!" he said. He knocked a pan of medical instruments off the cart next."

Jo stared at it with her mouth open. Then she looked at the girl who was staring at her curiously. "Did you just see that?" Jo asked.

"Yes I did," the girl replied. She was starting to wonder what was going on herself, even if she was evil and uncaring. She knew when something was out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, the head nurse came down the hall. "Molly!" she said. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know, Ma'am," Molly answered.

"Don't give me that. Get this mess cleaned up!"

Jo stared at the woman. "I saw this stuff just fall off that cart as though it had a mind of its own."

The nurse folded her arms. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Jo Danville. My friend is in ICU."

"Maybe you should visit the psych ward."

Jo's mouth dropped open at the rudeness. Mac stared at the nurse a moment. "Oh yeah?" he asked. He knocked a stack of hospital gowns off the cart. Then he folded his arms and stared at the nurse.

The nurse's eyes got wide and she unfolded her arms. She swallowed as she looked at Jo and Molly. "Just get it cleaned up, Molly," she said and turned on her heel and hurried back down the hall.

Jo was staring at the cart wondering what was going on. She felt like someone was trying to get her attention. The cups in the lounge and now this. She stared at Molly. "So, how long have you been working here?" she asked.

"Since yesterday," Molly answered.

"Oh really? Are you going to nursing school?"

"I already tried that. I didn't pass the test to get in."

"Those lousy tests. Sometimes they're all that stand in our way." Jo looked at Molly's name tag which said "Molly Green". She would have to find out something about this girl.

Mac stared at Jo as he thought she was getting the picture. She was intelligent after all. He thought maybe he had gotten her attention and she would act on it…

After Jo helped Molly get the mess cleaned up, she went back to the chair in the hall and sat down. She watched as Molly went on down the hall. She could not explain what had happened, but she knew something was not right. She got her phone and called Don.

"Flack," Don answered.

"Don, I want you to find out all you can about a woman named Molly Green," Jo said. "She works here at this hospital but she just started yesterday."

"You think she's the one we're looking for?"

"I'm not sure yet, but she does have long, red hair."

"I'll get on it. I'll get back to you."

"Good."

Jo put her phone away and looked around her. There was no one else in the hall where she was. "Mac?" she whispered feeling quite silly.

Mac stared at her. "I'm here," he said although he knew she could not hear him.

"Mac, don't leave us," Jo whispered.

Mac frowned at that. He looked toward the double doors that led back to his room. He would suffer if he went back in there. He had suffered a lot in life but it was not from health. He had always had good health. He supposed he had always been a little depressed since he had seen his friend beaten to death when he was sixteen. He could not pull that trigger even if it was to save someone else. He was not a murderer…but that would not have been murder. After that, he had gone into seclusion a lot of the time. He studied all the time and joined the Marines right out of high school. He had learned to pull the trigger then although he had hang-ups about it. He had overcome that because he wanted to be a Marine and he had to learn to shoot to do that.

As Mac pondered what he wanted to do, Adam came into the hall. "Have you heard anything else?" he asked as he sat down beside Jo.

"No," Jo replied. She looked around them. "I have a feeling that Mac is going to be fine."

"I hope so." Adam rubbed his eyes. "I searched those tapes so many times, I think I have them memorized, but there is no sign of anyone going into the pharmacy except the pharmacist and Mac."

Jo nodded. "Well, you did your best. I think I have an idea of who might have done it."

Adam looked at Jo with surprise. "Who?"

"I met someone a while ago working here in this hospital."

Adam's mouth dropped open. "You think she's here?"

Jo looked at Adam. "Do you believe in ghosts?" she asked.

Adam stared at her a moment. "Why?" he asked.

"Because something very strange happened a while ago." Jo told Adam what happened in the lounge and what happened in this hall.

Adam looked around them. "So you think Mac is here now?" he asked looking spooked.

"I don't know, Adam, but how do you explain all that? You think Mac is trying to tell us who did this to him?"

"If he is, does that mean he's not coming back?"

Jo looked sad and covered her mouth. "Oh, I hope not," she whispered.

Adam looked toward the doors that led to Mac's room. "He's like a father to me," he said. "I know I've annoyed him plenty of times but he puts up with me."

Jo put her hand on Adam's hand. "Mac sees you as a great asset to that lab," she said. "He values your talent very much. You should know that."

"Sometimes I don't feel like I contribute very much when I can't figure out something. I can't find this woman who tried to kill him."

"Are you serious? We can't find her either." Jo looked down the hall. "But we may be closer."

Adam looked at Jo. "I won't tell anyone else that you thought Mac was here," he said.

Jo looked at him. "You think I'm crazy?" she asked.

"No," Adam said, getting instantly nervous. "I meant that I wouldn't want anyone else to think you are."

Jo shook her head. "Well, I know something was going on," she said. "It wasn't your normal thing."

Adam looked around them. "You think he's still standing here?"

Jo stared at thin air. "I don't know," she said. "Mac Taylor, if you are here, don't leave us."

Mac looked down at the floor and then walked over to the other side of the hall. He looked at Jo. "You wouldn't want to die because you have your children to take care of and be here for," he said. "I don't have anybody who depends on me."

Jo leaned back against the wall. "He thinks he has nothing to live for," she said. "He doesn't know his importance. He thinks he just sits there and oversees everything but he's a lot more than that. He believes in his team and that's what makes us good."

"I agree," Adam said. "When Mac is there, I feel like everything is under control. He always knows what's going on. I don't know how he can keep up with everything."

"It's a talent…a calling. Whatever you want to call it…some have it and some don't."

Mac stared at them both wondering what they would do if he died. He looked toward the doors again. He did not really want to die. He started to go toward the doors but then he saw Molly at the other end of the hall. She was looking at Jo and Adam. Mac supposed she was wondering when they were leaving. He was sure she was here to finish him off and she was waiting for her chance. He followed her, deciding that he would delay his return just now. She was going toward the hospital pharmacy. Mac watched as she entered the room. No one seemed to notice her going in there. He went in and watched as she slipped some bottles of pills into a pouch that she had on her leg under her skirt. Then she got more pill bottles and put them into a tray that Mac assumed she was taking to a nurse. He followed her as she went back down the hall. He wanted to do something to make sure someone caught her stealing those pills.

Molly finally got back to the nurse who was about to start her rounds giving medications. Mac looked for a way that he could trip her so that maybe someone would see that pouch on her leg but he was sure she would not trip over his foot. He noticed a mop bucket sitting in the hall because the maid was cleaning one of the rooms. Mac walked up ahead of Molly and over to the mop bucket. He waited for Molly to get up to him. Just as she was about to pass by him, he shoved the mop bucket.

Molly's eyes got wide as she saw the bucket, but it was too late. She fell sprawling as the bucket tangled in her legs. Mac almost laughed as he saw how angry she was. He folded his arms as he waited to see what the nurse was going to say about this. Pill bottles were strewn all down the hall now because she had dropped the tray. Suddenly, the nurse was there. "What is going on?" she asked.

Molly could hardly contain her rage as she tried to get to her feet but her dress was up far enough that the nurse could see the pouch on her leg. "What are you carrying in that pouch?" she asked.

"It's personal," Molly snapped. She got up and straightened her dress as she looked around her. She was sure someone around here had it in for her. She was starting to get an eerie feeling. She had never had so much bad luck. She thought maybe she should just let the detective go. He might not live anyway.

"Get the bottles up," the nurse said. "And make sure you have them all."

Mac wished that nurse had made more of an inquiry into that but as he looked back down the hall, Jo was standing at the corner, along with Adam. Jo folded her arms. "I'm more convinced than ever that she is the one," Jo said to Adam.

Adam was still staring and wondering what was going on. "What should we do?" he asked.

"I'm waiting for Don to get a report about this girl. I just hope he can find out something. Let's see if she leaves her fingerprints somewhere that we can get them."

Jo looked at Adam. "She hasn't really seen you much," Jo said. "Try to follow her and see if you can get a fingerprint."

Adam got his phone out. "How?" he asked. "I don't have any equipment."

"There's a kit in the truck outside. Go get the fingerprinting kit."

"Okay."

Adam headed out to the truck and got the fingerprinting kit. He went back into the hospital and sneaked into one of the linen closets and got a white coat. He thought he might be less conspicuous if he had on a coat. He headed down the hall with the fingerprinting kit in his pocket. He saw Molly going down the hall pushing the cart for the nurse as she was about to give medications. Adam wondered if they were going to give medications to Mac. He watched as Molly was pushing the cart. She put her fingers on the rails of the cart. He thought that would be a good place to get a print if he could.

As Adam followed them, he finally saw an opportunity when they were both in one of the rooms. He made sure no one was in the hall and dusted the rail quickly and got the prints. Then he hurried back down the hall to Jo. "I got it," Adam said as he took the white coat off and laid it on a chair.

Jo looked at the prints on the tape. "Good work," she said. "We ought to be able to prove that these are the prints from the pharmacy." She looked at Adam. "You take these back to the lab and get them identified now."

"Okay," Adam said and headed out of the hospital.

Jo was going to make sure no one hurt Mac. She looked around the hallway. "You can rest now, Mac," she whispered. "We're gonna get her."


	5. Chapter 5

Adam raced into the lab with the fingerprints he had collected that he was sure were Molly Green's. Danny was in the lab. "Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"I got fingerprints from a suspect," Adam said. "I have to run these."

"Great! Who's the suspect?"

"Her name is Molly Green. Jo thinks she may be the one."

Danny put the fingerprints into the analyzer and ran them. As they waited for the computer to find a match, they were impatient. "So, why does Jo suspect this person?" Danny asked. "Did she see something?"

"Uhm, you might say that," Adam said. "This girl who started working in the hospital yesterday has long, red hair and she might be connected to this."

"She's working at the hospital?"

"Yes."

"What? Does Jo think she's there to finish Mac?"

"That's what she suspects. She's staying there to watch and make sure no one hurts Mac."

"That's a good idea."

Just then, the computer began to beep that it had found a match to the prints. Although the prints were unidentified, they matched the prints from the robbery at the pharmacy as well as the prints from the other robberies of pharmacies. Danny stared at the computer. "It's her!" he said in disbelief. He grabbed his phone…

Jo was sitting in the hallway as her phone rang. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo," Don said. "There's no record of a Molly Green in the system. However, she does have a car registered. She's twenty-four years old and she flunked out of nursing school…or actually, she didn't pass the test to get in."

"That's what she told me," Jo replied.

"Really? You talked to her?"

"Yes. I can't explain that right now but Adam got her fingerprints to run through the system."

"You think this is the one?"

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Just then, Jo's phone beeped. "Hold on, Don. Danny is on the other line."

Jo switched lines. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo! Those prints matched the prints from the crime scene!" Danny exclaimed. "It's her!"

Jo stood up. "You're certain," she said.

"Absolutely."

"Get Flack and get down here."

"We'll be there in a few minutes."

Jo put her phone away. She narrowed her eyes as she looked down the hall. "Your little game just came to an end," she said. She looked toward the doors that led to Mac's room. "You rest. We've got her."

Jo turned and went down the hall and rounded the corner where she last saw the nurse and Molly…if that was her real name. They had no idea if that was her real name. Then again, Don had found a car registered to her. Jo slowed down as she got into that hall knowing that this was a cold-blooded killer she was after. She was sure this woman would not hesitate to kill anyone. She knew Don and Danny were on their way.

As Jo came to another intersection in the hall, she looked both ways and saw the cart to the right. There was a nurse coming up the hall. Jo showed her badge. "I need to know where Molly Green is," Jo said.

"I think she's working with Naomi down there," the nurse said. "Why?"

"Just don't let anyone else come down this hall. That woman is a suspect in a murder."

The nurse looked shocked. "What about the patients down there? Some of them are in critical condition. Some of them have heart problems."

Jo considered that. "We have to get this woman. She may be here to finish killing Detective Taylor."

"He's in ICU. This is CCU."

"I know. Does Naomi take medications down to where Detective Taylor is?"

"She will get to that hall after this one."

Jo considered that. "You make sure no one knows about this and you make sure no one else goes with them."

"I will do my best."

Jo went back down the hall to where she had been. She called Don and Danny and let them know what was going on. "We will catch her down there," Jo said. "Just don't create any excitement when you get here."

"We'll do," Danny replied.

Jo put her phone away and went into the waiting area and sat so she could see who came down that hallway. Soon, Don and Danny arrived at the hospital. They left the team outside in case they were needed and they went in and found Jo. "What's going on?" Don asked.

"She hasn't come down this hall yet," Jo replied. "I'm still waiting."

"Why can't we just go get her where she is?"

"Because she was on the CCU hall. We can't go down there and create that much chaos in that hall. We'll wait until she is somewhere else."

They waited a while longer and then they saw the nurse coming down the hall with Molly pushing the cart. Don and Danny hid behind the wall so she would not know they were there and Jo pretended to be uninterested by looking at a magazine. When they got by, Jo laid the magazine down and went over to Don and Danny. "How close are we going to let her get?" Don asked.

"No closer," Jo replied and took out her weapon.

Don, Danny and Jo went out into the hall and went through the doors that led to ICU. A nurse met them in the hall. "You can't come in here," she said.

Jo showed her badge and gave her a look that made the nurse step out of her way. They continued down the hall until they saw the nurse and Molly. "Molly Green!" Jo said. "Stop now!"

Molly looked up from behind the cart at Jo, Don and Danny. Her evil automatically showed in her eyes. "Move away from that cart," Don said.

Molly suddenly shoved the cart toward them and took off running down the hall. She had shoved the cart sideways so Jo and the others had to maneuver it out of their way before they could get around. By that time, Molly was at the other end of the hall. "We're in pursuit!" Don yelled into the radio.

Molly reached under her sweater as she rounded the corner and pulled out her gun. She glared at the door that hid Mac's room as she passed by it. She did not have time to finish him now. She had to escape. Jo, Don, and Danny came around the corner and saw her going toward the stairwell. "She's heading for the stairwell!" Don said into the radio.

Molly went into the stairwell and headed down. Soon, Jo, Don and Danny were at the stairwell. "Get into the elevator," Jo said to Danny. "Keep in touch so we can tell you which floor she comes out on."

Jo and Don went into the stairwell and headed down as they realized Molly was going down. "She's going down, Danny," Don said into the radio.

Molly kept going down until she got to the garage. "She's going out into the garage!" Don exclaimed.

Molly ran across the garage trying to get to her car. "STOP!" Jo yelled as she and Don exited the stairwell.

Molly kept running. "Freeze! Police!" Don yelled.

"N.Y.P.D.!" Danny yelled as he came from the elevator area.

Molly aimed her gun at Danny and fired, but Danny fired too as he ducked. Jo and Don opened fire as well and Molly was dead before she hit the ground. Jo, Danny, and Don ran over to her. Danny checked for a pulse. "She's dead," he said.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked.

Danny nodded. "Yeah." He looked at Jo. "How did you know it was her?"

Jo smiled slightly. "Let's just say I had an inspiration," she said.

Don and Danny looked at each other. "Good enough for me," Don said. He got his radio and let everyone else know what was going on and called the ME.

Soon, the ME was there and collected the body. Jo, Don, and Danny explained the situation and collected evidence. Jo put the weapon from Molly Green into a paper bag and sealed it as well as the ammunition. "This should seal her coffin," she remarked. "I'm sure this will be the same weapon that was used in the murder."

When they were done and had the evidence sent to the lab, they went back into the hospital. Jo went in to see Mac, who had stabilized now. She walked over to the bed and sat down. "You and I have a lot to talk about when you wake up," she said. She leaned over and kissed his cheek and touched his face. "You hang in there and wake up from this. We caught the murderer…or rather, she sealed her fate."

Jo stared at Mac a moment. She had a feeling that he could hear her but he seemed to be resting now. She wanted to know him better before he died. She had only spent about a year with him and she wanted more than that. He was a good friend and he made her feel confident and she tried to do the same for him.

When Jo got back out to the waiting room, her phone rang. "Hello," she answered.

"Jo, the bullets from Molly Green's gun do match those from the robbery, murder," Adam said. "It's the same weapon that killed the pharmacist and shot Mac."

"I knew it would be," Jo replied.

"Now, that we have her definite fingerprints, we know that she's the one too."

"Thanks, Adam."

Jo put her phone away and sat down in the waiting room. She was suddenly incredibly sleepy now that she knew she could relax. Just then, Don Flack walked in, along with Sheldon. "You're going home to get some rest," Sheldon said. "Don will drive you. I'll stay here with Mac tonight."

Jo stared at him a moment, but she was too tired to argue. "Let me know if anything changes," she said.

"I will."

"Good night."

The next morning, Jo was up early. She wanted to go by the hospital before she went to the lab. She had not slept much last night. She could not help but think that Mac was hanging on the edge of life. She knew he was in that hallway. It had to be him. There was no other explanation. Of course, she was not going to share that with anyone else. They would think she had lost her mind, but she had solved that case with her instincts. She wanted to have a long talk with Mac when he woke up…in his body. She hoped he would remember what happened, but she did not know if he would. She had never talked to anyone who had a near-death experience.

When Jo was ready and had Ellie off to school, she went down to the hospital. Sheldon was sitting at the table in the waiting area drinking some coffee. "Well, what's going on this morning?" Jo asked.

"The same as last night," Sheldon replied. "He hasn't woken up or moved or anything but he's still stable."

"He's not improving or anything?"

"Staying the same."

Jo sighed. She had been hoping that he would wake up today. She wondered if he would die. Would he just give up? She looked at Sheldon. "Can I at least see him?" she asked.

"Of course," Sheldon replied. "You can see him in about fifteen minutes. That's when visiting hours start."

"Great."

When the time for visiting hours arrived, Jo went to Mac's room. She walked over to the bed and leaned over him. "Good morning," she said softly. She sat down on the side of the bed. She stroked Mac's hair. "Wake up, Mac. We're not ready to let you go yet."

Jo watched him but he did not move at all. She thought of the time they were investigating that murder that involved a clown. She remembered how angry Mac had gotten at that guy at the clown registry. He had put them down as though they were nothing. She had stopped Mac before he said something he should not…or at least she thought he would. However, Mac was very professional most of the time, but that guy had really tried to rub him the wrong way. That case had led into a whole different case. She never ceased to be amazed at how a case could be connected in so many places.

Jo left the room when it was time and went back out to the waiting room, but just as she was about to sit down, her phone rang with a text message. "Oh, not now," she said. But she would have to go. She looked toward Mac's room. She did not want to leave him but she would have to.

That evening, Lindsey went to the hospital before she went home. She barely had time to go in and see Mac because visiting hours would be over soon. She walked into Mac's room and walked over to his bed. She set the three red roses in a vase that she had brought. "Hi, Mac," she said trying to sound cheerful. "I thought I would come by and see you before I went home." She stared at him a moment almost expecting him to open his eyes and talk to her. She realized that his eyes were slightly open. "Mac, if you can hear me, I want you to know that we love you and want you to come back. You've been like a father to me since I moved here." Lindsey touched Mac's hand. It felt cold. "Don't give up, Mac. You can make it through this."

As Lindsey was leaving the hospital, Don was coming in. "Hey," he said. "How is he?"

"He's still not moving," Lindsey replied.

Don sighed. "He'll make it. He just has to."

Lindsey hoped that was true. She could not imagine their life without Mac. "I have to get going and get Lucy."

"See you tomorrow."

Lindsey squeezed Don's hand. "Let's not take it for granted that we'll all see each other tomorrow," she said. "I want you to know that I consider you a good friend, Don."

Don nodded. "Me too, Lindsey. You and everyone else are like family to me."

Lindsey hugged Don. "I'll see you."

Don went on into the hospital. He thought about what Lindsey said. He supposed they did take it for granted that they would all be there every day. He wanted to get in there and see Mac if they would let him. Visiting hours were almost over. He went into Mac's room as he was allowed in. He hated seeing Mac lying there looking so pale and not moving. He especially hated hearing that heart monitor. He thought he had spent some time halfway conscious while he was in the hospital before he woke up. He remembered lying there hearing that heart monitor. It became so annoying that it was like a stabbing pain every time it beeped.

Don walked over to Mac's bed. "So, how you feeling?" he asked. "If you get tired of hearing this heart monitor in your ears, you can always wake up and they might turn it off." Don stared at him a moment but Mac did not move. Don sighed. "You're a good boss, Mac and a good friend. You've put up with our nonsense a lot of times." Don shook his head as he remembered how understanding Mac had been when he was slack after Jess died. Mac had chewed him out but he did not suspend him or anything. He had made him realize that he was sinking into depression and he needed to climb out before it was too late.

Don sat down beside the bed. He hated for Mac to be here alone all night. Jo had to go home to be there with Ellie. They had all mostly been tied up all day because of the new case that came in. "Hey, we had a new case come in today," Don said. "We could use your insight. You might know how to solve that case. It's kinda complicated." Don folded his arms and stared at the wall. "See, there was this boat and this guy and his girlfriend were out on it and the guy wound up murdered. Of course, the first person they accused was the woman because she was covered in the guy's blood and was even holding the murder weapon when they found her unconscious in the floor. What do you think about that?" Don stared at Mac a moment but of course, he did not move. "I don't really think she killed him but we're still trying to figure out who did it. We have a handful of suspects. One of them is this woman who thinks she is irresistible and some guy who knew the woman all her life and who wanted her to marry him but she did not love him and then there was the other woman's husband who could have been jealous because he thought the guy was sleeping with his wife since she is doing every guy in New York just about…or at least all the ones that she chooses." Don shook his head. "I guess she thinks she's immune to STD's. I don't know, Mac, it's a crazy world out there. Every time I think it can't get any worse, I find out that it can."

When Don's time was up, he went back out to the waiting area. He supposed he could hang around here for a while since he had nothing to do at the moment. They would call him if they wanted him to go out and chase someone down or anything else. He went into the kitchenette and started to pour some coffee but he decided he had drunk enough coffee that day so he got a bottle of water instead and a bag of chips. He needed something salty for a change.

Don chuckled at that thought. Who ever needed anything salty? He supposed he did not "need" anything salty, but he wanted something. He sat down and turned the TV on in the waiting room and opened his bag of chips and his water. He changed the channel to something silly. He did not want to see any news tonight or anything serious.

Just as Don was about to doze on the sofa there in the waiting room, Sheldon walked in. Don sat up straighter. "Hey," Don said trying to act like he was fully awake.

"Hey," Sheldon replied. "How is he?"

"Still in a coma."

"Why don't you go home and get some rest and stop sitting here sleeping?"

"I don't want him to be here alone. He was here alone all day."

Sheldon sighed. "Well, we have to go on with life. We are here all we can be."

"I know."

Don stood up. "Just let us know if anything changes," he said. "No matter what time it is."

"I will, but you go home and get some sleep, Don. You can't work nonstop."

"I know, doctor. I'll see you tomorrow." Don thought of what Lindsey had said. "You're a good friend, Sheldon and a good doctor."

Sheldon smiled. "Thanks, and you're a good friend too, Don."

"It's like Lindsey said…we shouldn't take each other for granted."

Sheldon nodded. "That's right. You never know what can happen from day to day."

"Especially in this profession."

"You take care of yourself, Don."

"I will. Watch him in there."

"I will."

Sheldon sat down as Don left. He thought of what Don said. He would never have dreamed that Mac would be in the hospital like this fighting for his life. Mac seemed to be so invincible but they should know he is not. He was human like everyone else. He could be shot or anything and killed. Sheldon hated the thought of Mac being gone but he knew how fragile life was. He had seen it too many times when he worked in the ER. He had seen many people hanging by a thread of life and that thread broke while he was trying to save their life and he had seen people who made it back by holding onto that thread. It took so little to make life seep out of a person. Sheldon sighed. He did not want to stand over a coffin with Mac in it…not yet. Mac had so much more to do and so much more to give. Sheldon just hoped Mac knew that…


	6. Chapter 6

As the sun rose the next morning, Don was lying in bed with that sunbeam shining in his eye that usually always woke him up every morning if the alarm clock did not. He was surprised that he got to sleep. He had not gotten one call all night. He sighed. He would have loved to wake up to a call that Mac was awake. He wanted to talk to him again. He just had some things that he wanted to say. He had never told Mac what really happened when he was standing over that guy who killed Jess. He had to live with that now and it bothered him sometimes. He had shot the guy when he was down and could not hurt him. He remembered how he had felt when he looked into the eyes of the guy who took his angel away from him. He had finally thought he found the person that he could spend the rest of his life with. He wondered if he could ever find anyone else. He had not really been looking because of the way that ended.

Don got a shower and got dressed and went down to the hospital. He did not have to be at the office for a while since he had gotten no calls. As he walked into the waiting area, he saw that Jo was already there and Sheldon was still there too as well as Sid. "Hey, how's everything going?" Don asked.

"He's not awake yet but he's improving slowly," Sheldon said.

"Well, that's good news. Do they think he'll wake up today?"

"Possibly but we'll just have to wait and see."

"I'm just glad he's getting better," Jo said.

They all sat down and were silent for a few moments. "I don't know what it would be like to be in that morgue and not see Mac coming in there to find out about a victim," Sid said.

Sheldon smiled. "I remember the time I was in one of the coolers fixing it and Mac walked in looking for me. I heard him call me and I kicked the door open and you should have seen his face." Sheldon laughed. "He thought one of the corpses were waking up and coming out. I'm telling you, that's what he thought. I bet he wouldn't admit that."

Jo laughed. "You really did that?" she asked.

"Yes. When one of those coolers breaks down, it has to be fixed."

"I would have liked to see him."

Don just sat there quiet staring at the wall. He was feeling worse about what happened than before because Mac had been hanging at the edge of death. He kept thinking that Mac was going to die without really knowing the truth. He was sure Mac would have arrested him if he had known he killed that guy in cold blood. Don folded his arms. He felt cold when he thought that. How many people did he put away in a year for cold blooded murder and he had stood over a guy and shot him? He had never done that again and he would never want to. Revenge was not part of the job…although they took vengeance for victims of crimes by hunting down the person who killed their loved one.

Jo leaned back in the chair and sighed. She was so glad Mac was improving. Although they did not know the outcome of this ordeal, he was not dead. She did not want to go to work every morning and not see his face. She had come to learn that he was a very special person and she wanted him in her life.

"I think he will pull through this and be fine," Sid said. "Mac is strong."

"He is," Jo agreed. "But everyone has their limit. I believe he will be okay too though." She looked toward the doors that led to Mac's room. "He has to be."

That afternoon, while everyone else was working on the new case, Lindsey went to the hospital to see Mac. She went into his room and sat down beside the bed in a chair. "Hi," she said. "We have some leads on that new case. We're not sure who killed the guy though. We think it might have been this woman whose husband we were about to accuse. At first we thought it might have been him because of jealousy but now we think she might have done it because of rejection." Lindsey shook her head. "Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

"Yes."

Lindsey gasped and jumped up out of the chair. "Mac?"

Mac opened his eyes slightly. "Lindsey," he said barely above a whisper.

Lindsey wiped tears off her face. "Oh, Mac, you're awake!" She wanted to hug him but she did not want to hurt him. "Do you feel okay?"

Mac considered that. "Numb," he said.

Lindsey grasped his hand. "Everybody is going to be so happy," she said.

"Thanks for being here."

Lindsey watched as Mac went back to sleep. She cried even more then but then she hurried from the room and grabbed her cell phone. She called Jo and told her that Mac was awake. Lindsey waited until Jo was through cheering and thanking God. "Did he say anything?" Jo asked.

"I was talking to him about the case and he answered me," Lindsey replied. "Yes, he talked a little but he went back to sleep."

"Oh, that is the best news I heard all day. I will tell everyone."

"Okay."

Lindsey hung up that call and called Danny. "Mac's awake," she said when Danny answered.

"Great!" Danny said. "When did he wake up?"

"Just a few minutes ago. He talked a little."

"That is great news."

"I have to go. I think the doctor is coming."

"Talk to you later."

Lindsey told the doctor that Mac had woke up and talked to her. The doctor checked Mac's vitals and everything. "He seems to be improving," the doctor said. "He's a lucky man."

Lindsey was just glad he had woken up. She hoped he would wake up later and be awake longer. She smiled as she looked at Mac. He did not seem quite as pale as he had before.

That evening, everyone was there at the hospital. Mac was awake and feeling a little more alert, but still very groggy from the pain medications he was on. Jo went into his room. She smiled at Mac. "I am so glad you're awake," she said and kissed him on the cheek. "I wouldn't want to do this job without you."

"You never know," Mac said. "You might like being the boss."

"No I wouldn't." Jo stared at him a moment. "Do you remember anything that happened while you were in a coma?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Jo did not know how to say that because if he did not remember it, he might think she had gone off the deep end. "Anything."

Mac thought a moment. "I remember…I don't even remember being shot. I remember waking up this morning. Lindsey was here."

"Yes, she told us all the good news."

Mac felt incredibly sleepy. "I forgot what she was…talking about."

Jo stroked Mac's hair. "You just rest," she said. "We can talk when you're feeling better."

Mac just barely heard what Jo said. She sat down beside his bed wondering if he would ever remember what happened. She knew he had to be in that hall but maybe his conscious mind could not remember it. It might be too overwhelming. She wondered what all people thought or felt when they were in a coma. No one knew. She supposed none of them remembered.

As Jo came back to the waiting room, Don went to Mac's room. "Hey," Don said, hoping that Mac would wake up again. He could definitely tell that Mac was not as pale as before. He remembered how pale he had looked when he found him.

Don sat down in the chair beside Mac's bed and stared at the floor a moment. "I'm glad you're getting better," he said. "There are too many things I want to talk to you about. Too many things that need to be set straight." He looked at Mac but Mac was sleeping. Don knew he would not hear him if he told him anything right now. He supposed he could practice. He looked down again. "I…" Don did not think he could say it. He wondered what Mac would think if he told him that. He looked at Mac. "I'm sorry I let you down, Mac."

Mac opened his eyes slightly. "You're a good man, Don," he said.

Don was surprised. He stood up. "It's good to see you awake," he said forgetting what Mac had just said.

"Stop living in the past, Don. I did that for a long time but you have to get out of it."

"I try."

"Don't worry about things that you can't change. Let it go."

"But I…"

"Don't even say it, Don. Just let it go."

Don stared at Mac. "You already knew, didn't you?" he asked.

"Sure I did." Mac was about to drift off again.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it wouldn't change anything and wouldn't make anything better."

Don did not know what to think of that but Mac was asleep again. He supposed if Mac did not think it was worth mentioning, he might as well let it go and move on with life. Where was he going in life? He looked out the window at the fading day. He supposed he would spend the rest of his life chasing down scum and putting them in prison. There were worse things to do in life…like being on the other side of the bars. He had never wanted to be there.


End file.
